Data Protection Information

We take data protection seriously

The protection of your privacy when we process your personal data is an important concern for us. When you visit our website, our web servers automatically store the IP of your Internet service provider, the website from which you visit us, the pages which you visit when you are on our website, as well as the date and duration of the visit. This information is essential for the technical transmission of the web pages and for secure server operation. No personalised evaluation of this data is carried out.

If you send us data via the contact form, this data is stored on our servers as part of the data back-up process. Your data will be used by us only to process your request. Your data will also be dealt with in the strictest of confidence. There is no disclosure to third parties.

Personal data

Personal data is data about your person. This includes your name, address and email address. You do not have to disclose any personal data in order to be able to visit our website. In some cases, we need your name and address as well as further information in order to be able to offer you the requested service.

The same applies if we supply you with information material on request or if we answer your enquiries. In these cases, we will always point this out to you. Furthermore, we store only the data that you have sent to us either automatically or voluntarily.

If you use one of our services, we generally only collect the data that is necessary for us to be able to provide you with our service. We may ask you for further information, although this is only on a voluntary basis. Whenever we process personal data, we do so in order to be able to provide you with our service or to pursue our commercial objectives.

This data is not combined with other data sources. Processing is carried out in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 (f) GDPR on the basis of our legitimate interest in improving the stability and functionality of our website.

This data is temporarily stored by us for reasons of technical security, in particular in order to prevent attempts to attack our web server. It is not possible for us to draw conclusions about specific individuals on the basis of this data. After seven days at the latest, the data is made anonymous by shortening the IP address at the domain level, so that it is no longer possible to establish a reference to the individual user. The data is also processed in anonymous form for statistical purposes; it is not compared with other data stocks or passed on to third parties, even in the form of extracts. Only within the context of our server statistics, which we publish every two years in our activity report, is the number of page views made known.

Cookies

When you visit our web pages, we may store information on your computer in the form of cookies. Cookies are small files that are transferred from a web server to your browser and stored on your hard drive. The legal basis for the use of cookies is Art. 6 para. 1 lit f DSGVO. Only the Internet protocol address is saved during this process – but no other personal data. The information which is stored in the cookies allows you to be recognised automatically upon your next visit to our website, which makes your use of it easier.

You can of course also visit our web pages without accepting cookies. If you do not want your computer to be recognised upon your next visit, you can also refuse the use of cookies by changing the settings in your browser to "Reject cookies". You can find out how to do this in the operating instructions of your browser. However, if you reject the use of cookies, there may be restrictions on the use of some areas of our web pages.

AWStats

In order to be able to evaluate our site statistically, we use the program AWStats. The program is a free web analysis software. It is used for evaluating log files created by web servers on the basis of visitor requests. The program does not use cookie files for the evaluation. The statistical analysis is carried out via the log files, which also contain IP addresses. As a rule, this data cannot be used to identify specific people. This information is not merged with other data sources and the data is deleted after it has been statistically analysed.

In contrast to other statistics programs, AWStats does not transfer any data to a third-party server. The program is installed on your own hosting package. For example, the transfer of data abroad is avoided because our server is located in Germany.

Google Analytics with anonymisation function

Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA., hereinafter referred to as "Google$ldquo;. Google Analytics uses so-called "cookies", text files which are saved on your computer and as a result enable you to analyse the use of the website.

The information generated by these cookies, such as the time, place and frequency of your website visit, including your IP address, is transmitted to and stored by Google in the United States.

We use Google Analytics on our website with the addition "_gat._anonymizeIp". We use Google Analytics on our website with the addition "_gat._anonymizeIp". In this case, your IP address is shortened by Google within Member States of the European Union or in other contracting states of the European Economic Area Agreement and therefore made anonymous.

Google will use this information to evaluate your use of our site, compile reports on website activities for us and provide further services related to website and internet use. Google may also transfer this information to third parties if this is required by law or if third parties process this data on Google's behalf.

According to its own information, Google will under no circumstances associate your IP address with other Google data. You can prevent the installation of the cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; we point out, however, that in this case it is possible that you will not be able to fully use all the features of our site.

Google also offers a deactivation add-on for the most popular browsers, giving you more control over what information Google collects about the websites you visit. The add-on informs the JavaScript (ga. js) of Google Analytics that no information about the website visit should be submitted to Google Analytics. However, the Google Analytics browser deactivation add-on does not prevent information from being transmitted to us or to any other web analytics services that may be used by us. For more information about installing the browser add-on, please follow the link below:

If you visit our website via a mobile device (smartphone or tablet), you must instead click this link, in order to prevent tracking by Google Analytics within this website in the future. This is also possible as an alternative to the browser add-on above. Clicking the link sets an opt-out cookie in your browser that is only valid for this browser and domain. If you delete the cookies in this browser, the opt-out cookie will also be deleted, so that you have to click on the link again.

If you have agreed that your web and app browser history may be linked by Google to your Google Account and that information from your Google Account may be used to personalize advertisements, Google will use your information together with Google Analytics data to create target group lists for cross-device remarketing. For this purpose, Google Analytics first collects your Google authenticated ID on our website, which is linked to your Google Account (i.e. personal data). Google Analytics will then temporarily link your ID with your Google Analytics data in order to optimize our target groups.

If you do not agree to this, you can turn it off by means of corresponding settings in the "My Account" section of your Google Account.

Google Maps

This website uses Google Maps to display maps and create route maps.

Google Maps is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. By using Google Maps on this website, you agree to the collection, processing and use of the data which is collected automatically – as well as the data entered by you – by Google, any of its representatives or third-party providers.

Google Web Fonts

For the uniform representation of fonts, this website uses web fonts provided by Google. When you open a page, your browser loads the required web fonts into your browser cache in order to display texts and fonts correctly. If your browser does not support web fonts, a standard font is used by your computer. Further information about Google Web Fonts can be found at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and in Google's privacy policy (https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/)

Security

We have taken technical and administrative security precautions to protect your personal data against loss, destruction, manipulation and unauthorised access. All of our employees and the service providers working for us are obliged to comply with the valid data protection laws.

Whenever we collect and process personal data, it is encrypted before being transmitted. This means that your data cannot be misused by third parties. Our security precautions are subject to a constant improvement process and our privacy policies are constantly being revised. Please make sure that you have the latest version.

Affected rights

You have a right to information, rectification, erasure or restriction of the processing of your stored data, a right of objection to the processing as well as a right to data portability and a right to complain in accordance with the requirements of data protection law.

Right to information:

You can request information from us concerning whether and to what extent we process your data.

Right to rectification:

If we process your data that is incomplete or incorrect, you can request that we rectify or complete such data at any time.

Right to erasure:

You can request that we erase your data if we process it unlawfully or if the processing interferes disproportionately with your legitimate protection interests. Please note that there may be reasons that prevent immediate erasure, e.g. in the case of legally regulated retention obligations.

Irrespective of the exercising of your right to erasure, we will erase your data immediately and completely, unless there is a contractual or legal obligation to retain it.

Right to restriction of the processing:

You may request that we restrict the processing of your data if

you dispute the accuracy of the data, namely for a period of time that enables us to verify the accuracy of the data.

the processing of the data is unlawful, but you refuse to have it erased and instead request a restriction on the use of the data,

we no longer need the data for the intended purpose, but you still need this data to assert or defend legal claims, or

you have lodged an objection to the processing of the data.

Right to data portability:

You may request us to provide you with the data you have made available to us in a structured, current and machine-readable format and to allow you to forward this data to another responsible party without our interference, provided that

we process this data on the basis of an agreement which you have submitted and which is revocable or in order to fulfil a contract between us, and

this processing is carried out using automated methods.

If it is technically feasible, you can ask us to transfer your data directly to another responsible party.

Right of objection:

If we process your data on the basis of a legitimate interest, you can object to this data processing at any time; this would also apply to any profiling which is based on these provisions. We will then no longer process your data unless we can prove compelling reasons worthy of protection for the processing that outweigh your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing serves to assert, exercise or defend legal claims. You can object to the processing of your data for the purposes of direct advertising at any time without stating any reasons.

Right of appeal:

If you are of the opinion that we are infringing German or European data protection law when processing your data, please contact us so that we can clarify any questions. Of course you also have the right to contact the supervisory authority which is responsible for you, i.e. the respective State Office for Data Protection Supervision.

If you wish to assert any of the above rights against us, please contact our Data Protection Officer. In cases of doubt we may request additional information to confirm your identity.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change our privacy policies if this becomes necessary due to new technologies. Please make sure that you have the latest version. If fundamental changes are carried out to this privacy policy, we announce these on our website.

All interested parties and visitors to our website can reach us concerning questions of data protection at the following address: